Redcar made three new signings prior to visiting Sheffield. Tom Bacon broke a vertebra in the fours and joined Ulrich
Østergård and Jack Smith for the chop. Erik Riss, ex-Tiger Kasper Andersen and 2 point sacrificial lamb Tom Wooley are
the latest recruits. I wonder how long they will last?Track preparation last week suited the home riders and was a problem for Somerset. You would think there was a lesson to be learned there. Sadly not by our track curators. Redcar riders won 11 of the 15 races as conditions seemed to suit them perfectly.
My initial scapegoat for our first home league loss of the season was going to be Drew Kemp. After his initial paid 14 return against Scunthorpe his form for the Tigers has been in a downwards spiral. After the Leicester match when Danny was trying his bike I expected his form to improve, but sadly it seems just the opposite. While he continues to top score for the Kent 'Kings' he only managed to complete one of his three races for us today. While he might have great potential he is not one of our assets and why should we have to suffer his learning curves when we probably won't benefit at all in the long run?
On the other hand we have to look closely at our heat leaders. Out of fifteen starts between them they managed just two chequered flags! With rider replacement for Broc accumulating just 2+1 our fate was sealed. Our reserves may have trumped theirs to the tune of 15+4 to 5, but sadly meetings are rarely won by reserves without some support from above.